Chicken pox vaccine shingles

The varicella vaccine is a live (attenuated) virus administered to protect against the viral disease commonly known as chickenpox caused by the varicella zoster virus (VZV). The varicella vaccine is marketed as Varivax in the U.S. by Merck and globally as Varilrix by GlaxoSmithKline. Another vaccine that is known as Zostavax is simply a larger-than-normal dose of Varivax, and is used to reduce the risk of shingles (also called herpes zoster) and postherpetic neuralgia that are caused by the same virus.

Effectiveness of Chicken pox vaccine shingles

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, clinical trials have demonstrated that varicella vaccine is 70% to 90% effective for preventing varicella and more than 95% effective for preventing severe varicella.

Furthermore, follow-up evaluations took place in the United States of children immunized that revealed protection for at least 11 years. Also, studies were conducted in Japan which indicated protection for at least 20 years.

People who do not develop enough protection when they get the vaccine may develop a mild case of the disease when in close contact with a person with chickenpox. In these cases, people show very little sign of illness. This has been the case of children who get the vaccine in their early childhood and later have contact with children with chickenpox. Some of these children may develop a mild chickenpox also known as breakthrough disease.

The long-term duration of protection from varicella vaccine is unknown, but there are now persons vaccinated more than thirty years ago with no evidence of waning immunity, while others have become vulnerable in as few as six years. Assessments of duration of immunity are complicated in an environment where natural disease is still common, which typically leads to an overestimation of effectiveness, and we are only now entering an era in the U.S. where the long-term efficacy of varicella vaccine can be accurately gauged.

Does chicken pox vaccine prevent shingles

Anyone who has had chickenpox may get shingles later in life. But there's a vaccine that may help prevent shingles or make it less painful if you do get it. The shingles vaccine is known as Zostavax. Adults ages 50 and older can get one dose, whether or not they've had shingles before.

If you have never had chickenpox, you may avoid getting the virus that causes both chickenpox and later shingles by receiving the varicella vaccine.

If you have never had chickenpox and have never gotten the chickenpox vaccine, avoid contact with people who have shingles or chickenpox. Fluid from shingles blisters is contagious and can cause chickenpox (but not shingles) in people who have never had chickenpox and who have never gotten the chickenpox vaccine.

The chicken pox vaccine, approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 1995, involves injecting children with a live but weakened varicella virus. The body can safely fight it off, producing chicken pox immunity.

Dr. Ann Arvin, professor of pediatrics and infectious diseases at Stanford, says doctors aren't yet sure whether this weakened virus will produce shingles immunity, too, or whether it is strong enough to cause shingles years later. In the meantime, she offers advice to adults over 50 who fear shingles' wrath: Get the shingles vaccine. Zostavax, which is also created from a weakened form of varicella, boosts adults' ability to fight the existing virus if it reactivates. The FDA approved the vaccine for people 50 and over in 2011, after a study of 22,000 people showed that people who had the vaccine were 70 percent less likely to get shingles within a year than people who received a placebo. The vaccine's protection lasts at least six years, and research is under way to determine if it lasts longer.